


Healing Broken Wings

by BlackBirdAolen



Category: Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Afterlife, Alternative Timeline, Healing, Legends, Life Stream, M/M, Machanon, Souls, alternative universe, city, cleansing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 10:56:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4219095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBirdAolen/pseuds/BlackBirdAolen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The life stream has guided Sephiroth to a small village, Machanon, the fabled city of souls. And there, he meets another legendary aspect of lore.</p><p> </p><p>  <a href="http://ask.fm/BlackBirdAolen">Got a fanfic idea for me?</a><br/><a href="http://cheroshseiphar.deviantart.com/">My deviantART - full of original fiction.</a><br/><a href="http://blackbirdaolen.tumblr.com/">Snippets and ramblings on my tumblr.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Healing Broken Wings

Sephiroth was surprised to be aware still after he had been submerged into the life stream. It was a gentle floating guiding him along, and he had the feeling that he was going somewhere definite, but then again, there was something strangely comforting about it. He didn’t like the thought of being controlled, but in this case, there was little he could do. Peace was coming to his mind, even after this long time of living in a world which basically had been just mad to him. But now, it was just pure joy which was flowing through his ethereal self. That, and many thoughts.

One of them was that he would be going to a good place now. Sephiroth didn’t know why, but he just somehow knew. There had been rumours that the souls in the life stream went to a place, a safe haven, called Machanon. It was an old legend, and Sephiroth didn’t know if it was true, but his essence seemed to call out to go there. He just could feel that there was a huge urge within him that he should follow this call, and there was this thought that it would all turn out to be better sometime soon. Sephiroth breathed in deeply (or at least he thought he did so), and he just allowed the stream to take him away.

There was some peace in death after all, it seemed. There was something strangely comforting about the life stream at this point. Sephiroth didn’t try to wake himself up, nor did he try to resist any longer. There was more peace to be found when giving in, he had understood that much. This was strangely calming, despite being in a complete contrast to what he believed in. He didn’t want to be controlled, yet he allowed the life stream to control him right now. That, and the strangely calm feeling rising in his chest. As if he had been put under drugs and now was not even trying to shake the influence. This was just all so wrong and yet right…

His surroundings changed after what felt like an eternal calm. Sephiroth blinked in surprise when he felt something like a body return, but at the same time, he still had this feeling of being lighter than air, ethereal in many ways. He was slowly released to the ground, which was covered in the softest grass he had ever felt against his fingers. He chuckled to himself and shook his head, slowly straightening up. So this was the oasis in the middle of the life stream, the fabled city of souls, Machanon.

This was where souls had first originated, and where something like immortality first had taken root. Sephiroth had once heard the story behind it, but he didn’t remember all of it. As far as he knew, the first strong souls coming to Machanon had come from people unable to accept that they had died in a horrible tornado summoned by an emperor of magic. The mere thought that something like that was possible was not that scary to Sephiroth after he had seen what the Black Materia and the Holy Materia could do respectively. But at that time, he understood, that had been unheard of.

Machanon presented itself to him as a small village with wooden houses, and a rather warm wind brushing between those houses. The souls having come here all had an ethereal appearance to them, making Sephiroth wonder if he looked the same way right now. He didn’t feel hunger or thirst, but he did feel some amount of pain. It still seemed to come from his body, even though he had no idea how that was supposed to influence him any longer. But well, there was only exploration left now, and to find out how he could stop this burning feeling.

“Welcome to Machanon.” Sephiroth looked up in surprise when a gentle voice welcomed him. He looked straight at what appeared to be a fairly young white mage, whose face was mostly covered by cloth. He wore a turban, wide robes, and a cloak, all in white, with just a very few colourful bands to break up the monotonous white tone. “I’m Minwu, a resident having come here a long time ago. I will show you around briefly, to get you introduced to the village.”

“Minwu?” Sephiroth knew this name. It was a name which was in every white mage’s ear and mind, and he had heard it whispered in reverence several times over. Minwu, the legendary white mage, the one to break the seal over the Ultima spell. “This is a surprise indeed. I definitely didn’t expect any of this. I kind of always assumed that there would only be the life stream after death, and that there would be nothing else to come.”

Minwu chuckled lightly, shrugging his shoulders. The fabric of his clothes moved in a rather odd manner, as if it was thinner than it appeared and floating under water. And there didn’t seem to be a very clear-cut end to the fabric either. It was as if it was composing itself, and dissolving all over again, and never stopping to really settle down in any way. This was strange, and it was a bit unsettling. But the ethereal nature of Minwu’s appearance seemed to really match. He was a legendary figure, after all, and with his presence here, Sephiroth assumed that Minwu was some guide to souls.

The tour around Machanon was rather short. Sephiroth was shown a small house where he could stay on his own, then some places where he could put his mind off what had happened in his life, and also a small station which apparently was run by Minwu himself, where he healed souls. Sephiroth didn’t quite get to ask what Minwu exactly did, but then again, there was no real interest on his mind in what exactly Minwu healed in a soul. He just presumed that there was some possibility to purge his self from feeling all of this pain.

“Well, as soon as you’re settled in…” Minwu smiled and adjusted the turban he was wearing. “I can start healing your soul, so that you may cleanse yourself from everything you have experienced. And this will finally allow you to let go and go into the life stream.”

“What of you?” Sephiroth shook his head lightly, looking down at himself. The dark fabric of his clothes, the ones he had worn during his life, was moving like dark smoke. “Why didn’t you move on yet?”

“I have a task here, and I will stay here, possibly until the end of time.” Minwu had closed his eyes, and a small smile had come to his face. “And this will be the way of things for me. I don’t mind.”


End file.
